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Son of a farmer living below poverty line, an Odia boy from Kendrapara district has cracked Indian Economics Service (IES).
Hailing from the obscure Palakana village under Kora gram panchayat, 24-year-old Dipak Kumar Das has clinched the 25th rank in the IES.
While Dipak's parents and siblings are overjoyed as the news of his success reached, residents of the remote village are also visibly elated.
"There is no shortcut to success. Where there is a will, opportunities galore would come regardless of constraints and stumbling blocks," Dipak said over phone.
"I have seen trials and tribulations of life from early age. My father is a small and marginal farmer. With great hardship, he provided me the monetary support for studies. I did not let him down. My perseverance, parental support besides divine blessings helped me to come out successful in IES," he said.
Arakhita Das, his father, has reason to take pride in his son. He said, "I am a proud father. I own an acre of cultivable land. The pangs of poverty did not deter Dipak from achieving his goal."
Daitari Nayak, the ex-headmaster of Koro Panchayat high school where Dipak had studied, said "I had spotted spark of brilliance in him in school. He was very hard-working. He was gifted with sharp memory and adept in debating skills."
Dipak's schooling was in Palakana Primary School and Koro Panchayat High School. He later joined in BJB Autonomous College in Bhubaneswar for plus two and plus three courses with Economics honours. For post graduation in the discipline, he switched over to Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.
"In the interview for the IES, I was bombarded with questions right from recession trends in global economy to poverty of Odisha. But the board members were exceedingly courteous and encouraging. I even fumbled facing a few questions. But they prodded me for the right answer," he said.
The board also asked him the ways and means to eradicate poverty and economic backwardness of states like Odisha, he added.
